Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The judge was quite surprised and looked Han Jin up and down. If one of the other powerful mercenaries challenged him, there was no way he would accept, but this young man didn’t seem to have anything special; aside from a pretty face.
“What, do you want to refuse?” Han Jin asked flatly, then pointed toward the female slaves huddled on the platform, “Did they have that option? If not, you’ll receive the same treatment.”
The crowd of spectating mercenaries started to cheer.
“Kill him, Master Raphael, kill him!!” That was obviously from a man who enjoyed violence and bloodshed.
“Crawl back to where you came from, coward! Stop embarrassing yourself!” This man seemed to be more clever, as he tried to provoke the judge.
“Master Raphael, this all depends on you! Don’t disappoint us!” This man… well… clearly did not have a brain, and was instantly mocked by his friends, “What, do you think it is possible for Master Raphael to lose?”
Though Isolated Cliff City didn’t have a sturdy wall, nor did they have powerful magic crystal cannons, never make the mistake of underestimating them! Even if the army of Cold Shadow City arrived at this instant, the mercenaries would not surrender under intimidation. Of course, if someone were to prove themselves, they would earn the mercenaries’ respect, but that wasn’t the same as surrendering.
Only a fraction of the mercenary population decided to come spectate. Most weren’t interested by the slaves brought by the caravan at all, and would much prefer to spend their time drinking and bragging about themselves in inns, or with a prostitute if they felt in the mood. All of that were more preferable to watching some kind of performance in the freezing wind! They knew that there were females slaves being sold, but none of them wanted someone else to worry about. In other words, they might enjoy themselves for a winter, but they still had to hunt in the Tarasha Mountains once spring arrived. If they were unlucky enough to die at the claws of some holy animals, their slave would only benefit someone else! It wasn’t necessary at all… the Isolated Cliff City never lacked women.
However, the swarms of gargoyles hovering in the air attracted everyone’s attention. There were so many of the monsters that it was obviously an invading force. At this sight, countless mercenaries; no matter if they were drinking, taking a nap, or wandering the streets, grabbed their weapons and flooded into the arena.
Hogan’s face turned even darker as he noticed the mercenaries were getting even more agitated, and that more of them were entering the arena. Just then, he saw the judge looking at him, waiting for an order. Hogan nodded, then signaled with his hands.
Hogan thought a crushing victory would calm the mercenaries, and even told his subordinate to capture him alive as a slave. He could tell that the guy had no signs of magical powers in him, nor did he look like a warrior, but he was definitely an influential figure among the mercenaries. If he was captured as a slave, they would have something to negotiate with.
“I, the Eighth-Grade Sage Prio, accept your challenge.” The judge bowed slightly and smiled in disdain, though he kept his manners civil.
The spectating mercenaries blanked, then started booing. Eighth-grade sage? That’s so boring! If that guy was a grand magician, or even a top-grade magus, the battle would definitely be a spectacle. But an eighth-grade…. Master Raphael could probably take care of him with just one finger.
Hearing the chorus of booing, Prios simply assumed that the mercenaries were mocking him for bullying a weakling. Thinking that he had seen through them, he explained, “You are the one that challenged me, did you not?”
Han Jin didn’t speak, and only stared at Prio silently. He was simply too lazy to say anything.
Prio took out a wand from his space ring, and started to enchant a spell while trying to guess Han Jin’s profession. With a fluctuation of magic, Prio’s skin suddenly started to turn rough, which was then covered by a swath of shiny scales. Dragonscale Defense, an eighth-grade spell. Even though the dragon scales formed by elemental magic was nothing compared to the real deal, it still provided extremely solid defense for the caster. However, the spell also had one major downside, namely that it severely limited the caster’s movements. For that reason, Dragonscale Defense became much less useful than it would be otherwise, and was only useful during one on one duels against an opponent who couldn’t cast skills.
“Wow! Dragonscale Defense! Oh my…”
“Don’t forget your magic barrier!”
“Iron Skin, hurry up and cast Iron Skin… You dumb pig! don’t say I didn’t warn you…”
“Divine Shield of Earth! Hurry, or you’ll miss your chance!”
Maybe because they thought Han Jin could beat his opponent in one strike, all of the mercenaries all decided to advise Prio instead. Han Jin listened to all the chatters on stage, he didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He was the center of attention moments ago, but now, it looked as if everyone suddenly abandoned him.
Poor Prio misunderstood once again. He thought it would be laughable for a lion to dress himself in armor in order to attack an ant. Thinking that the mercenaries were mocking him, he changed his mind and decided to forgo magic barriers and other defenses. He then smiled at Han Jin, “we can start now.”
Just then, a clear voice yelled from under the stage, “Raphael, teach them a lesson they wouldn’t forget.”
It was Sunier. The more the mercenaries shouted, the more excited she got, to the point where she had to squeeze her fists hard to keep her composure. Of course, that was only on the surface. Standing in the arena and feeling the atmosphere around her, she knew fully the kind of respect Han Jin commanded among the mercenaries. That was her biggest pride.
Han Jin appeared extremely calm ever since he climbed onto the stage, but as he heard Sunier’s shout, he laughed suddenly. Though from his appearances, Han Jin was not as handsome as the master playboy Hallister who could seduce woman purely by his looks, he was still quite good looking. Though he didn’t have blonde hair like Hallister, nor his charming deep blue eyes, but he did have one thing over Hallister: his temperament. This was especially obvious when he smiled wholeheartedly. It was a smile as bright as the sun, as soft as a stream, and combined with it’s pure and untainted nature, it far surpassed Hallister’s melancholy facade.
He then bowed toward Sunier with a smile, “Yes ma’am!”
The watching mercenaries exploded into chatters again, and many started whistling. What groundbreaking gossip!
Sunier was greatly embarrassed and thought that Han Jin must have done it on purpose!! The fiery looks from surrounding mercenaries embarrassed her so much she wanted to duck her head, but she didn’t want to embarass Han Jin, so she instead forced herself to calm down and focus her attention on Han Jin instead of the fiery stares from the mercenaries.
Prio noticed Sunier too. As the saying goes, a woman is most attractive when she falls in love; even though Prio had noted Sunier’s beauty before, she appeared quite shy normally, but at this moment, her whole body was shining with confidence! Prio’s eyes lit up and said to Han Jin, “Let’s make a bet. If you win, I’ll become your slave. If I win, I get that elf!”
“You are not worthy of her. Besides, you wouldn’t have a chance to be my slave anyway.” Han Jin’s eyes suddenly turned ice cold, “Did you say we could start?” Before Prio could process what Han Jin meant, Han Jin made his move.
‘As patient as a turtle, as swift as a hare’ was usually used to describe a warrior, but it wasn’t fitting for Han Jin. The first part was right, but the problem was, Han Jin didn’t have a shred of connection to the hare. He was like a bolt of lightning, a mad tide, an unstoppable force, a king that saw all! At least on this stage, the world belonged to him!
A ray of turquoise light shot out from Han Jin’s hand, then turned into a gigantic sword that was about twenty meters long! The pressure it extruded was indescribable, and the moment the sword formed, it dumbstruck everyone that was present and almost stopped their hearts.
The next moment, the gigantic sword shot toward Prio. Actually, it was more like a swat. It swatted Prio like it would swat a fly!
With a giant boom, an invisible but clearly existent sound wave exploded outward and tortured the mercenaries’ ears. Dwightsteel and the rest of the group who stood near the platform frowned. They were clearly affected as well. Rocks and sand flew everywhere in the arena, and the dust storm that ensued went up dozens of meters. The earth quaked as a result of the impact, and some weaker mercenaries even started to tremble.
After a moment, the dust cleared. Han Jin’s shape was once again visible, remained in its clean and peaceful state. His face was calm, so calm it seemed as if the attack wasn’t unleashed by him. As for Prio, he had disappeared completely. The only thing left of him was a few streaks of blood that one had to squint to see. In his place, there was a deep trench, smooth and uniform around the edges, that was a dozen meters long and at least five or six meters deep. It almost cut the platform cleanly in half.
The stage was specifically designed to be able to withstand the attacks of warriors and magicians alike, yet in front of Han Jin’s flying sword, it might as well have been a block of tofu!
Han Jin looked at the female slaves. Han Jin was so enraged by Prio that he only had one person in his sight, one that must be dead! The female slaves were too close to the blast zone, and was affected the most. They lied across the ground at the moment, and Han Jin could see that some were bleeding from the mouth. Clearly, they suffered severe internal damage.
However, Han Jin didn’t have the time to think about that for the moment, all he could do was compensate them afterward. But at the moment, he had unfinished business!
“Who’s next?” Han Jin’s extremely calm eyes turned toward Hogan: “You, or them?” Han Jin casually pointed toward the swarms of gargoyles, and the flying sword that floated quietly in the air likewise raised itself.
The gargoyles used this opportunity to showcase their strength; if they were intelligent beings, they would definitely scramble out of the way, but they simply continued to hover in the air, as if they weren’t afraid of the sword at all.
Dwightsteel exchanged a look with Juventus, and both saw a smile on the other’s face. No matter who was in charge, the mercenaries were on the same side, and someone as powerful as Han Jin could only be a good thing! They only heard rumours before and weren’t fully convinced, but now that they witnessed the sheer display of power by Han Jin, the only shred of doubt in their mind disappeared. Han Jin was definitely a dragon slayer!
The surrounding mercenaries finally had the time to process what just happened, and every single one of them started cheering like mad. The noise was so loud that it washed across the city like a tsunami.
Hogan’s face turned ashen. He assumed that the young man was an influential figure that had influence, but not real power. He was promptly startled by Han Jin’s power, which far exceeded his wildest imagination. Beside, the mercenaries’s cheers was becoming more and more uniform, and the words ‘dragon slayer’ was being used more and more. At this point, it was quite obvious who Han Jin was. Fighting against a dragon slayer? Hogan definitely did not have the guts to do that.
Han Jin raised his hands, and the mercenaries’s cheers started to die down, “you want to refuse?” Han Jin smiled coldly, then sweeped his gaze across all of the snow magicians, “Like I said before, none of you have the right to refuse my challenge!”
This was the first ‘fight’ he had since reforging Manteco’s sword, and although he was only capable of forging a mid-grade flying sword, its power still far exceeded his expectations. Of course, the vital energy he expended likewise surprised him. After the first attack, he only had enough energy to strike one more time. However, he was confident he could take care of the old magician with one strike. Besides, he didn’t only forge one flying swords during all this time. As for the rest of the people, Gibran and the rest would have to take care of them.
“Go, old bastard!” The mercenaries started to get noisy.
“Be smart this time and use all your spells. Don’t be like that dumb pig, haha…”
“Please.” Han Jin very politely bowed. He thought the gargoyles were controlled by the old magician, and had chosen him to be the next target. He would attack regardless if the old magician accept his challenge or not.
Sensing the waves of scornful and mocking gaze, as well as the panic of his subordinates, Hogan didn’t have a choice but to slowly walk to the stage. However, his steps appeared very heavy, and everytime he climbed up a step, it was as if he had to muster up all his energy to climb over a mountain. After a long while, to the point where the mercenaries became impatient and started to boo, he finally stood in front of Han Jin.
“You have plenty of time to prepare.” Han Jin said flatly.
Looking at Han Jin, Hogan started to cough uncontrollably. He didn’t want to die! The magicians of Cold Shadow City was far more advanced in certain field compared to the rest of the continent. The headband they used to control their slaves and the various kind of magical war puppets were a prime example of that. However, since all they needed to do was control puppets to charge at their enemy, they rarely had to fight for themselves. As a result, most magicians from the Cold Shadow City became very much afraid of death. Hogan was no exception. Ironically, that did not seem to stop them from squandering the lives of others.
“You better hurry up, my patience is running thin.” Han Jin said coldly when Hogan still did not cast any spells.
“I…” Hogan looked toward the gargoyle swarms in the air, then looked at the mercenaries around him. By now, the arena was filled with mercenaries, and the sea of people looked even bigger than his gargoyle army. Could he defeat all these mercenaries and a dragon slayer with only gargoyles?
Han Jin snapped his fingers, and the giant flying sword made a crispy ring. It was a warning for Hogan to hurry up.
Hogan trembled violently, then did something that disappointed everyone present. He threw his wand on the ground and said in a shaking voice, “I surrender…”
